The Gulangyu Island Museum, themed around the humanistic history of Gulangyu, is located in the former villa of the Overseas Chinese Bank from a century ago. It displays items used by foreigners from fifteen countries on the island, showcasing the passage of time through physical artifacts and authentically recreating the living environment of Gulangyu a hundred years ago. Visitors can experience the rotation and passage of time while navigating through the eighteen exhibition halls within the former villa of the Overseas Chinese Bank.
In 1902, Gulangyu was carved up by foreign powers. Countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Sweden, and the Philippines (some say fifteen countries) successively established consulates on the island, formed a ‘Consular Corps’, and set up a ‘Public Works Bureau’ and ‘Joint Court’. This represents an indelible painful memory for Gulangyu. On the other hand, that special era also created the prosperity and many legends of Gulangyu, and the enchanting Gulangyu culture that captivates people today gradually took shape during that time. However, whether it was humiliation or glory, all have now vanished with the passage of time. We can mostly only imagine the vicissitudes of those years through textual descriptions.
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